Science or nonsense? It’s often hard to tell. ESPforMe offers a “brain computer interface for iPhone”, which uses a special headset to pick up your brainwaves and uses them to perform Web searches. You even collaborate with others. It’s on the Apple App Store so it must be legitimate.
Private equity investors continue to replace public markets as the main buyers of marketing and advertising tech companies. Latest transaction is DoubleVerify, which battles online ad fraud by authenticating that impressions are viewed and the viewers are human. Buyer was Providence Equity Partners. They didn’t announce a price but the Wall Street Journey says they paid around $200 million for a majority stake.
Seven new sponsors have joined the Customer Data Platform Institute and individual membership has quadrupled since January, the Institute announced today. The growth reflects rising interest in CDPs as marketers and analysts recognize these systems can solve the challenge of providing unified customer data needed to deliver personalized customer experiences.
It’s tough to get brand safety right, but the industry keeps trying. IPG Mediabrands announced a new set of tools to find and block inappropriate ad placements, while IAS expanded its suitability measurements to include standards from the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). Meanwhile, DoubleVerify admitted a mistake made brand safety on X/Twitter look worse than it really was in October 2023 and March 2024.